SBI sees FY'13 net profit at Rs 14,000-15,000 cr

"For SBI we got an allocation of 3,000 crore this year (capital infusion by the government) and we expect to make a net profit of another Rs 14,000-15,000 crore of net profit this year," State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told a television channel.

New Delhi: State Bank of India on Monday said it expects to clock a net profit of Rs 14,000-15,000 crore in the current fiscal, backed by strong internal generation and robust demand for loans.

"For SBI we got an allocation of 3,000 crore this year (capital infusion by the government) and we expect to make a net profit of another Rs 14,000-15,000 crore of net profit this year," State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told a television channel.

SBI had reported a marginal 4.08 percent increase in net profit at Rs 3,396 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.

The public sector lender had announced earlier it will get Rs 3,004 crore as part of the government's capital infusion plan for the current fiscal.

The government approved infusion of Rs 12,517 crore in around 10 state-owned banks by March.

When asked about loan growth, Chaudhuri said: "... It has been a huge, huge pleasant surprise. I was myself slightly diffident and pegging it at 16 percent. But as of now the year-on-year growth we are finding it close to 18 percent. And I would not be surprised if the year-on-year growth could be as high as 20 or even 21 percent."

Elaborating on the reasons behind rise in loan demand, he said "There has been a huge upsurge in loan demand after rationalisation of our interest rates. So as we have made them more market-friendly, lowered the interest rates, we are seeing a huge demand for loans not only in the retail segment but also for corporates. Home and even for auto in our case."

SBI cut lending rate by 0.05 percent on January 30, a day after the Reserve Bank cut its key policy rates.

After this marginal reduction, SBI's base rate or the minimum rate of lending, has come down to 9.70 percent from 9.75 percent effective February 4.